From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, March 12, 2025
Trump: No one is expelling any Palestinians
Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
US President Donald Trump says no one is expelling anyone from Gaza.
During a press spray with Ireland’s Prime Minister Michael Martin in the Oval Office, a reporter asks the Irish leader about Trump’s plan to “to expel Palestinians out of Gaza.”
“Nobody’s expelling any Palestinians,” Trump pipes in.
The comment appears to amount to an about-face for Trump who when introducing his proposal to take over Gaza last month said that all of the Strip’s population of roughly 2 million people would be permanently relocated.
When pressed last month as to whether he would relocate Palestinians by force, Trump insisted that no people in Gaza actually want to remain there.
REPORTER: What about the president's plan to expel Palestinians out of Gaza?
TRUMP: Nobody is expelling any Palestinians. Who are you with?
REPORTER: I'm with Voice of America, sir.
TRUMP: Oh, no wonder. pic.twitter.com/SfosOKDnv6
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 12, 2025
Earlier in today’s Oval Office spray, Trump laments that people are forgetting what Hamas did on October 7. He reiterates the brutal treatment of the hostages by the terror group.
“We’re working hard with Israel… to see [how] we can solve the problem,” Trump says.
He again calls Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer a “Palestinian.”
“He used to be Jewish. He’s not Jewish anymore,” Trump says.
The Times of Israel Community.